Despite frustrating loss, Packers still play for division in finale against Bears. Rodgers still a question mark to return

This Sunday Tony Romo “redeemed” himself by completing two key 4th down passes in the fourth quarter to lead Dallas to a come-from-behind victory over Washington, and Russell Wilson had the worst performance of his career as Seattle’s 14-game home-winning streak ended. Suddenly those commentators predicting that the 49ers and not the Seahawks are headed to the Super Bowl seem not so out-there after all: Unbelievable as it may seem, after an 11-1 start and all but assured of the No. 1 seed, there is still a chance that the Seahawks may not even win their division at all, and fall to the 5^th-seeded wildcard team. How is this possible? If the 49ers win their remaining games, and the Seahawks lose to St. Louis, the 49ers win the division and clinch the No.2 seed; if Carolina loses next week under this scenario, the 49ers will be the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. 

But none of that interests me. I’m a bit in the dumper after the Packers seemingly blew their opportunity to play Chicago next week for the NFC North division title. Sure, Pittsburgh was on a roll, and my expectations for today’s game was more hopeful than certain. I expected either a blow-out loss or a close victory, and frustratingly neither occurred, as the Packers lost a heartbreaker 38-31. This was certainly a bizarre game. Every time it seemed the Packers were going to take control of the game early, the Steelers always responded with their own score, especially after special teams breakdowns. 

After Pittsburgh took their first lead of the game early in the third quarter, Mike McCarthy decided to forgo a 53-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game at 17; it seemed that it was the right move in hindsight when Pittsburgh fumbled the ball away inside their own 5-yard line. But the Packers failed to punch it in for a touchdown, and then Mason Crosby’s 23-yard chip shot field goal attempt was blocked. But in a season of mind-numbing penalties, the Packers—who were hurt throughout the second half by penalties at the worst possible time—received a “gift” from the officials when the Steelers’ were flagged for an “illegal bat,” meaning “batting”  the ball forward either away from an opposing player or toward a teammate. Incredibly, this gave the Packers the ball back and first down and goal. 

This time the Packers scored the touchdown to move ahead 21-17, but the Steelers quickly regained the lead. Then during a pass play with a nonstandard blocking scheme, Flynn collided with tight end Andrew Quarless, causing his pass to be intercepted and returned for a touchdown; McCarthy admitted he should not have called the play since Flynn hadn’t had sufficient reps to get it down. Now facing a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Packers again showed the resiliency of the previous two games by staging yet another comeback, tying the game at 31. But the Steelers are not the Cowboys, and big-haired Troy Polamalu forced a Flynn fumble as he tried to scramble for a firstdown; but it was still not over—even when a bone-headed offside penalty on third down when it appeared that the Steelers would be held to a field goal led to McCarthy intentionally allowing the Steelers to score a touchdown instead. 

With over a minute to play and no timeouts, the Packers were hoping for another miracle finish, and it nearly happened when Micah Hyde returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards to the Pittsburgh 31. But after two completions had the Packers at the 4-yard line and ready to punch in for the tying score and overtime, another hair-pulling procedure penalty with a ten-second runoff left the Packers with one play, an incomplete pass as time expired. Flynn, who was 14 of 19 for 137 yards and a touchdown in the first half, was just 7 of 20 for 95 yards and the interception in the second half. Yet the Packers still scored more points in the second half than the first, and this was ultimately one of those frustrating games where you sensed that your team had no business winning, but having come so close to doing so, it hurts more than being blown-out.

Now, the question many may be asking is that if Aaron Rodgers had started this game, the Packers likely would have won and likely by a comfortable margin. That’s not at all certain, because Rodgers has had some stinkers along the way; nevertheless, if he had started people would not be wondering what could have been. It seems, as McCarthy stated in his Friday meeting with the press, that it was an “organizational” decision not to play Rodgers. Rumor has it that general manager Ted Thompson and his employers think that the Packers have no chance even if they made the playoffs, and want to shutdown Rodgers until he is fully healed from his collarbone injury. Rumor also has it that both McCarthy and Rodgers are of a different opinion, but they have been overruled, and they need to play the good foot soldier and keep their real opinions to themselves. 

And the debate isn’t over yet. With Detroit’s loss to the Giants and the Bears blowing a chance to clinch the division by losing in crushing fashion to Philadelphia, the Packers-Bears finale will still be for the division title.